ColourPop Highlighter Trios – Review and Swatches

ColourPop was my favourite brand discovery of 2016, after many beauty lovers rejoiced when they announced they were going to start shipping to the UK and since their launch, I’ve placed three orders and intend on placing many more as I’m one smitten kitten. So far I’ve tried (and fallen head over heels in love with) their Super Shock Shadows (here) and their Ultra Matte Lips (here) but until very recently I’d never tried any of their cheek products. ColourPop have a great selection of blushes, highlighters, sculpting sticks and bronzers but I had no idea where to start as I just want to add every single thing to my basket as everything is so incredibly affordable.

Recently they launched the ColourPop Highlighter Trios which are three sets of three highlighters; each of which is designed to flatter Fair skintones, Medium skintones and Deep Skintones and each trio is just $22/£18 making each shade just £7.33 which is amazing. ColourPop give the following advice when working with their highlighter formula; “Use a flat synthetic foundation/cheek brush or a duo fiber brush. A flat synthetic brush will give more coverage while the duo fiber brush will give a more sheer and airbrushed effect.” and the pots must be screwed tightly to keep the shadow from drying out.

International Shipping & Customs Fees

Ever since I started featuring ColourPop on my social media channels and my blog, I’ve had quite a few messages concerning customs, tax and shipping so I thought I’d cover it in this post for those that want to know. ColourPop offer international shipping, but they regularly have deals where they offer ‘free international shipping’ on say orders over $50 which I think is the perfect time to take advantage to save some money on shipping costs. Once you’ve added your items to your basket and have proceeded to checkout, it’ll show you how much your shipping costs are so you know the full cost prior to entering your payment details.

Now there’s obviously an issue with customs but that’s absolutely nothing to do with ColourPop or any other brand as the custom fees are applicable on ‘most goods arriving in the UK from outside the European Union, and the fees due must be paid whether the goods: were purchased or received as a gift. are new or used. Sadly there’s no way of avoiding these fees as they’re applied as soon as the item arrives in the UK. Whenever I place an order on a site such as ColourPop, I always ensure I’ve budgeted around £20 to cover the customs fees as I know they’re coming so there’s no nasty surprise.

The fees do differ depending on the value of the package/order but I’ve had £12-£18 in charges but one order had no charges so it must have slipped through the net. I know customs fees are annoying, but they’re down to the UK’s customs but in my opinion the customs are very much worth it for ColourPop products as the quality is incredible and the products are very affordable too.

ColourPop Waffle Highlighter Trio

The first of the three ColourPop Highlighter Trios is Waffle which is designed for “Fair” skintones, and the trio which would suit my skintone the best as I’m very pale and the Waffle Trio contains Flexitarian (pearlized), Glazed (tie dye) and Scrumptious (pearlized). Each of the three trio’s feature a pretty, ombre designed cardboard sleeve which holds the three highlighters, all of which are individually boxed so you could gift them individually if you wanted to.

The ColourPop highlighters are packaged within white plastic circular pots which have screw lids just like the Super Shock Shadows. ColourPop sell a wide range of highlighters which are divided into; Pearlized Highlighters, Satin Highlighters and Tie Dye Highlighters and all of them can be purchased individually, even the shades within the new Colour Highlighter Trios. If you purchase any of the highlighters which feature within the trios individually they’re $8 each but when purchasing them as a trio they work out at being $7.33 so you do save money by buying them as part of the trios.

Flexitarian is described as being an intense white champagne which is super metallic and shimmery, and gives an almost foiled-like finish which is highly reflected; it truly is one of the most beautiful highlighters I’ve ever used. I really like that Flexitarian is relatively neutral in tone and I’ve loved using the shade for my inner eye corner highlight due to how reflective it is.

Glazed is described as being a soft ivory gold, with a ‘tie dye’ effect with a champagne and gold blended design. Due to the design of the pan, you can concentrate your brush on a certain area if you’d rather have more champagne or more gold, or you can mix both shades together like I have done with the swatch above. I find Glazed to be the subtlest of the three shades within Waffle but even then it’s not particularly subtle as it imparts the most beautiful sheen to the skin. If you have super pale skin like mine, this shade works as a bronzer too.

Scrumptious is described as a silvery baby pink which is a spot description as it really is very silvery, and it also has a foil finish so would be perfect for those that love having a very intense highlighter. I don’t think I can pull off this particular shade as an highlighter as it’s so intense but it’s the most amazing eyeshadow and I’ve loved using it as a very reflective topper for absolutely any eyeshadows.

ColourPop Cannoli Highlighter Trio

The shades within the Cannoli trio are; Wisp (pearlised), Frosted (satin) and Whipped (tie dye), and is designed for those with a medium skintone. I definitely think this Cannoli Trio will be their most popular as the shades are pretty universal and I also think they’re incredible eyeshadow shades and each pan contains an impressive 4.2g of product which is very generous considering the price.

Wisp is described as being a golden champagne with gold pearls, and is a shade which I think everyone should own in their collection as it’s very flattering with the perfect amount of shimmer which doesn’t emphasise any pores or skin texture but makes the skin look so healthy and luminous. I feel like it’s the perfect golden champagne shade and if I apply it with a fan brush, it doesn’t look too deep or warm toned for my pale skintone.

Frosted is described as being a soft true gold and is really quite warm in tone so it might work as a bronzer for those with lighter skintones with warm undertones as it can look a little too yellow for my skin but it’s unbelievably smooth and buttery, and applies as if it’s a cream highlighter.

Whipped is described as being a warm silvery taupe and is one of my top three shades from the three trios – I cannot emphasise how much of a gorgeous shade this is. Whipped as a very metallic finish similar to some of the Super Shock Shadows and is so multi-dimensional as it can look warm toned in some lights and cool toned in others. If you use this with a dampened fingertip/brush, the finish looks like liquid metal.

ColourPop Shortcake Highlighter Trio

The shades within the Shortcake Highlighter Trio are; Soft Serve (satin), Iced (tie dye) and Candyman (pearlised) and is designed for those with deeper skintones. The shades in this trio are understandably quite dark which will never work with a skintone as pale as mine, but oh wow all three work amazingly as warm eyeshadows and are my favourite shades from the three trio sets for eyeshadows as they’re so beautifully pigmented, creamy and metallic on the lids.

Soft Serve is described as being a satin true copper, and is very deep and perhaps the shade I’ll use the least from all nine shades as it’s so warm and orangey. I think it would be a little more wearable as an eyeshadow if it had a pearlized finish but it’s undoubtedly a pretty shade which will look fantastic on the deepest of skintones, and the formula/softness if beyond amazing.

Iced is described as being a rosy gold, and is the most multicoloured tie dye highlighter from the three trios but due to the nature of the formula, every single highlighter will have a different pattern and mine has more bronze than pink tones, whereas I’ve seen some with a lot more pink than bronze. When blended together it is a very pretty rose gold which I like wearing all over my lids with a light warm toned matte shadow through the crease for a two minute eyeshadow look which looks as if I’d spent a lot more time than I have.

Candyman is described as being a metallic rich gold and blows my mind in terms of pigmentation and I feel as if it’s the shade if you mixed Wisp and frosted together with a stunning metallic, multi-dimensional finish. I do feel as if Candyman applies a little deeper than it looks in the pan but it’s been one of my most worn lid shades during March as I just cannot get enough of it and works great as a one shadow look.

Overall I’m pretty sure you can tell I’m in love with all three ColourPop Highlighter Trios. I love that even though there’s a fair few shades which won’t match my skintone, they make for the most stunning eyeshadows which will flatter everyone. The texture of all nine shades is fantastic; soft, smooth, creamy and buttery just like their Super Shock Shadows and I find they are best applied with your fingertips when applying to the lids, and a synthetic fan brush when wearing them as an highlighter on the cheekbones.

Even though I own a fair few ColourPop Super Shock products, I’m still wowed everytime I use one as the formula and finish is so unique, and I never need to use a primer when I choose to apply them to my eyelids. I’m planning on purchasing a few of the individual pale highlighter shades as well as some of the blushes as I love all of these so much, so they’ll all be added to my online basket next time I place an order so I’ll be sure to share my purchases here on my blog when I do.

I would love to know if you’ve tried any of the ColourPop Highlighter Trios? Do you have a favourite trio? Please tell me in the comments below…

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